A Season to Remember
by Evelyn Wood
Summary: Fate seems to keep bringing Dr. Hatori Sohma and ex-delinquent Arisa Uotani together. When an accident befalls Uo's father Hatori is the one she turns to for support. They soon become closer than either imagined and it's dangerous.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Hello! I've had this story for a long time! I love non-canon pairings so I thought I'd try Hatori and Uotani! I feel they are really close in personality and Uo would really like him and Hatori like her back! So here is my idea! Read and Review please!

Chapter 1 

Arisa Uotani was sitting in the classroom bored out of her freaking mind! Not to mention it was the worst day she has had this year. She sighed heavily and coughed lightly as she remembered the horrible morning.

**EARLIER! **

Her "lovely" morning started out with the alarm clock deciding, 'Hey, guess what? I'm going to be mean and not go off today.' So naturally, when she looked at the clock she did one of those holy shit looks. Her stunning blue eyes went wide as she jumped seeing it was so late and fell onto the floor, bruising her pale elbow to a soft blue.

She had just enough time to take a quick shower, throw on her teal blue school uniform in a wrinkly manner, throw a brush through her wet blonde hair and rush outside of her apartment with her school bag in hand.

She ran down the somewhat deserted street at lightning speed and ran into someone when she turned the corner. "SORRY!" she screams back to the person who stood there trying to figure out what just happened.

_Shit! It's cold. _Uo, her nickname, realized as she ran and saw the school coming into her view. _Oh warmth… just a little more and I'll be warm… HERE I COME WARMTH! _Uo thought happily as she ran down the street faster; a smile gracing her fair face.

Suddenly without warning, cold hard rain fell down from the darkened sky like tears would flow at a funeral. Everyone on the street stopped to look questioningly at the sky. It wasn't supposed to rain today.

_WHAT THE HELL! I THINK THE WORLD IS AGAINST ME TODAY!_ Uo cried in frustration and sadness. She shut her eyes and let out an irked roar that caused many to jump as she ran past.

The rain was now streaming down like water out of a fire hose and her tall lean body got soaked from head to foot. Her clothes were now sticking to her shapely figure and the wind, that was surprisingly **not** turning the rain to snow, was causing Uo to freeze her ass off.

She dashed around a corner that was just across from the school and ran smack into someone. Hard. Uo started to fall backwards, eyes expanding in fright. She didn't have enough time to turn so she could catch herself and she knew it.

_I'm going to die. _Uo thought as she became aware of the steel pole behind her head that would either crack her head open or break her neck. Either way she was a goner. She'd rather die than be paralyzed. So she closed her eyes and waited for the impact to come… but it never did.

Something whizzed past her head causing a fast cold breeze. She did not know what it was but she didn't open her eyes to find out. From out of no where a warm strong arm grasped lightly around her thin waist and caught her just before she hit the pole.

Uo slowly opened her eyes and found herself staring into the most stunning green eyes she had ever seen. She found out that the person who had saved her was a man and he had a somewhat confused and surprised look in his eye. A hint of worry flashed over them also, but then it was gone. Uo noticed the worry in his eyes however; she was pretty good at reading people's feelings through their eyes.

He was leaning over her in a very awkward position and she was surprised he could stand like that. It looked like he was dipping her like in the tango, but his upper body was turned to the side as if trying not to touch her as much as he could. She had her hands up for some unknown reason and could feel his strong chest under his wet olive button up-shirt and found he was built very well.

He helped her stand to her feet and when he turned his head to stand up straight his eyes seemed almost gold. She stood there in awe as he stood to his full height, which was at the very least 6 ft. The mystery hero was very handsome and her cheeks turned a light pink as she scanned over his body and remembered their close "encounter." _Too bad he looks like he's in his twenties._ She thought.

He brushed his long black bangs to the side and walked up to Uo. She stiffened when he stopped in front of her. His towering figure had a very serious look and by looking at it she could tell that he always wore a serious look.

Uo blushed like mad when she saw him scanning her body. She suddenly felt very aware of the clothes sticking to her curvaceous body. Even if it was a hot guy, she didn't like strangers looking at her like that, so she got pissed.

"What the **hell** are you starin' at?" she blurted out as she crossed her arms over her chest and blushed so much she felt sort of warm.

The man said nothing back just looked into her eyes blankly for a second and started to circle her. Scanning even more of her body, Uo felt herself boil with anger. No one should do that unless he is a doctor or a police officer!

"What are you a vulture?" Uo asked, annoyed with his circling.

"No." He flatly answered in a deep voice. He then ceased his revolving about her and stopped in front of her once again and nodded to himself.

"Well? Did I pass your inspection?" she asked with ill humor.

"Not yet." He answered once again with a monotone voice as he moved some of her blonde hair behind her ear.

"HEY!" Uo snapped as she aimed to hit his hand and away, but found her thin wrist in his strong grasp. She gasped and her eyes grew wide with fright.

"Don't be scared. I'm not going to do anything with you. I'm just making sure you are ok… You seem fine though." He said almost to himself after the short pause.

"Oh and you're a doctor," She answered smartly.

"Actually I am," The mystery man answered in a matter a fact tone, as he scanned her face one more time, almost seeming unsure if she was ok or not.

"Really?" she asked with surprise and awe.

"Yes," he answered in a voice that said he was speaking the truth and showed her his card that read Dr. Hatori Sohma.

"Well… um… I'm fine really," Uo answered fake smiling brightly and pulling her hand out of his grip that had loosened. "I've got to go to school. I'm really late and I was on my way. Thank you so much for saving me. I thought I was dead." She laughed at the last part.

"You're really late to school. Do you want me to help? I think you should--"

"It's ok. Thanks anyways!" she cut him off before he could finish is sentence. She started to run off before she noticed she was missing her school bag. "Oh! I forgot my bag!" She ran back and picked up the bag closest to her and ran off yelling back, "Thanks old man!"

(Yeah this might get confusing, but I wanted to put in Hatori's thoughts. Though, Uo doesn't know them. )

A vain popped from Hatori's forehead at the young woman's last comment._ Jeez. I look like I'm just 10 years older than her and she's calling me an old man. Children these days…_

Hatori breathed out a deep sigh and turned to pick up his bag. He suddenly stopped and stooped down, looking quizzically at the bag. _This is not my bag… _Hatori paused for a moment to think and then he remembered when she ran into him, the force caused her bag to be flung behind him. Then he threw his bag backwards as well to catch her because he noticed the steel light post behind her head that she surely would have broken her neck on, if she was lucky.

That brought on another thinking session as to why he didn't change into a seahorse at the time. He caught her and brought her close enough to be considered hugging. He could even feel the curve of her body in his strong arms.

Hatori then rolled his eyes and let out a slightly annoyed sigh. _Great… Now I'm thinking like that idiot dog, Shigure. _Then he remembered that her arms were in between their bodies so that may have prevented them from fully hugging.

Looking back at the bag that was getting drenched as well as himself, he decided to pick up the sad looking thing. She was wearing the same school uniform as Momiji, but she looked like she was in Kyo's grade. _I'll give it to Kyo… no bad idea, Yuki. So he can return the bag to the girl and hopefully get my bag back._ Hatori thought, liking the idea. Then he remembered he needed the papers in there for Akito that evening at 4 o'clock. Hatori let out a disgruntled sigh and rubbed his temple with his index and middle finger. _I guess I need a new plan… I can wait after school and say I'm picking up Yuki, Kyo and Torhu. Also, while I'm doing that I'll look for the blonde I ran into and get the bag back. She shouldn't be too hard to find with that hair and baby blue eyes…why did I just describe her eyes like that?_ He let out another irritated sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. _I've really got to stop hanging out with Shigure and get a new friend, a less perverted one._

With that, he and his new bag set off towards the pharmacy to pick up more supplies. Sadly his wallet was in his bag too. Hatori fumed and blushed at the embarrassment he endured finding he had to use the girl's money which, luckily, was just enough for all of the things he needed. He figured he would pay her back when his bag was returned to its rightful owner.

(BACK TO UO!)

"Ahhhhhh…." Uo sighed with relief getting under the awning and out of the rain, running her fingers through her wet blonde hair. "Finally out of that down pour. Jeez, doesn't even look like it's gonna to give up! It's practically raining cats and do--" Before she could finish her sentence the rain stopped and the dark miasma cleared from the sky like it was dirt getting cleaned off the window with Windex. The sun shined down from the heavens and birds chirped a happy lullaby.

Uo started to boil with rage and threw her arms up in the air, dropping the bag. "YOU'VE GOTTA BE FREAKING KIDDING ME!" she screamed at the top of her lungs scaring the birds away and causing the kids inside putting on their shoes (who were probably also late) to jump and stare in silence at her with wide frightened eyes.

She heaved angry shaky breathes before composing herself, picking up the bag, and going inside the school. Of course, as soon as she walks into the school, the air conditioner blew right on her. "Gah!" she gasped running far away from the freezing cold vents and to her locker where she fortunately had an extra dry uniform. Or so she thought…

Upon opening her locker she found that it was empty except for her clean white school shoes. _Duh…_Uo practically smacked herself for being so stupid. She'd brought it home to clean it and forgot it in the morning rush.

Uo slid her slender hand down her face in agony. "What am I going to do? I can't go into the school drippin' wet! RAH!" Uo screamed with distress.

Then an idea slid its way into Uo's brain. She didn't like it, but she was desperate. She would borrow one of Tohru's extra uniforms.

Her father, though not usually fatherly, had his rare moment of fatherism (Uo's own word). He actually told her to remember to bring her school uniform into school the night before when he was doing the laundry, which she, of course, had to force him to do. If she went home with a slip about her uniform her dad would be very upset.

"Please let this be right!" she begged the locker as she put in the combination. _Click._ Uo smiled to herself and opened the locker. In the locker was Tohru's shoes she wore out of school and some other random things, but what caught her eye was the extra uniform. _YES!_ Uo thought triumphantly as tears of joy stung her eyes and almost made their way down her alluring face. _Tohru's the best!_

The bell that signaled the teachers to move (not sure?) echoed throughout the building as Uo was changing her clothes. "Damn. I'm really late now. They're probably on to Mayuko-sensei's class," she said disappointedly.

Uo looked at herself in the mirror once she was done. The shirt was just about the size of Uo's because Tohru liked her shirts to hang a little over her skirts. And it was that dreaded skirt that was making her blush in embarrassment. She really doesn't like to wear skirts that are short. Yeah, at her job at the coffee shop required her to wear a short skirt, but she didn't really have to sit down in it and it wasn't _this_ short! It just barely hit mid-thigh!

Uo gulped in nervously and swallowed her pride. She had to wear it so she wouldn't get in trouble! Uo walked the dangerous trek to her desk. She was praying that she wouldn't get in trouble, but she highly doubted it.

Arriving at the classroom, crouching down because of her height, she stuck her head just enough over the door window to see in. She was correct, Mayuko-sensei was teaching. Mayuko-sensei was facing the board writing as she spoke as the students in back of her stared as if in a trace at any place but the board, probably day-dreaming. Everyone seemed out of it and Mayuko-sensei seemed to be interested so much in her writing that no one would notice Uo come in.

Uo silently opened the door just enough to fit her slim figure through the door. No one noticed. _So far so good._ Uo crept towards the back of the classroom when one of the student's head shot in her direction looking at her with his mouth open wide in shock. Uo put her index finger to her full rosy lips and shushed him softly. He then turned towards the board with the same expression on his face, taking glances every now and then at Uo's leg, though silently.

Uo noticed this and would have screamed at him and beat him to a pulp, but she'd rather not get in trouble. Uo almost made it to the back of the room when something she never thought would happen, well happened. She thought someone would rat her out, someone would make a noise, the teacher would turn and find her smiling sheepishly at her. But no, Uo sneezed. SHE SNEEZED!

Mayuko-sensei turned around and caught her red handed, or more like red faced. Uo was so embarrassed, when everyone turned and looked at her horrified. Either with sneezing and getting caught, just plain old getting caught, her short skirt, or her almost making it to her seat without being noticed by the teacher, everyone was shocked.

"Well, well, well. I'm so glad you've decided to join us, Uotani-san," Mayuko-sensei said with a forced smile on her face. "Good job! You almost made it to your seat, but since you didn't and I caught you, you're going to have to come have a little talk with me outside the classroom. Won't that be fun?"

Uo smiled with annoyance at the teacher's fake happy sarcasm. "Oh yeah… so much fun…" Uo said as she rolled her eyes, her words dripping with sarcasm and anger.

Mayuko-sensei walked over to the door and held it open for Uo like she was her prom date. Uo followed her and her fake grin out of the classroom. "So Uotani, why are you so late to school, let alone my class?" the teacher asked tapping her shoe on the marble floor, her face serious and frowning.

"My alarm clock didn't go off. I DID SET IT! I would have made it here on time if it didn't freaking rain! And then I ran into this guy who almost got me killed, but saved me. Then he wouldn't let me go until he circled me like a shark to make sure I was ok. He's a doctor. And then when I came here my uniform was soaked and I didn't have my other one to I borrowed Tohru's. And that's why I'm late!" Uo stated so fast that Mayuko-sensei blinked a few times, not getting any of it but alarm clock and no uniform.

"Well… It seems you didn't set your alarm clock because it didn't go off. You need to be more punctual. Now this is your first offense so--" Uo stopped listening after that. Everything started to go a little blurry and she suddenly felt dizzy. Mayuko-sensei's tapping foot echoed in her ears and thumped like the speakers at a concert. Other noises started to echo in Uo's ears and she couldn't take much more of it. Uo shook her head and then everything was fine.

"You got it?" the teacher asked questionably, eyeing Uo.

"Um…gotcha." Uo nodded with reassurance though she didn't hear a thing. She coughed a little, but stopped once Mayuko-sensei opened the door and walked in, Uo in tow.

The class was in an uproar about Uo. Some were making up stories on how she was late. One person even said that she is an alien from outer space and the real Uotani was abducted and being tested on. A few guys sitting together were saying what sexy legs Uotani had (the class pervs). Many of the girls were saying how outrageous Uotani looks in that short skirt and it should be outlawed, although most were wearing theirs even shorter. Her closest friends were huddled together. Tohru had a worried face on, the Prince and Orangey comforting her, and Hanajima glaring at those who were making Uo look bad. Uo smiled at her friends, they truly were good friends.

"Sorry class. Everyone, please take your seat and we'll get on with the lesson," the teacher yelled to get the class's attention.

**PRESENT TIME!**

So that's how her horrible day was, and still is. Not to mention, she now had a cough and it wasn't getting better, more or less it was getting worse. _Maybe I should have stayed home._ Uo coughed softly.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 

When the class had quite a bit of free time Tohru came over to Uo's desk. Uo didn't even notice when one class began and one class ended. She didn't feel good at all, though she didn't want to show it. She wanted to last through the whole day at school since she went through all those events just to get there.

Tohru Honda sat in the hard desk next to Uo's. Her warm friendly brown eyes were drowning with worry for her friend. Uo didn't look good at all, her face was pink and she hadn't picked her head up from the desk. She was practically magnetized to it.

Tohru turned her head to the side to get a better look at her friend's face. Long chocolate colored hair was cascaded down to the middle of her back. Her normally innocent child-like features were replaced by a worried mother. Tohru's pretty features were still showing, but were crawling with anxiety for her friend.

"Uo-chan? Uo-chan, are you ok? Your face is quite pink. Can I feel your forehead?" Tohru asked uneasily as she tried to put the back of her hand to Uo's forehead. Uo stubbornly moved her head to the side, not only to avoid Tohru's curious hand, but to get to a cooler side of the desk. _Ahhhh…cool…_

"Arisa… Don't be so childish. Your waves are quite… off. Let Tohru-kun feel your head… she is worried as am I," a low woman's voice coolly responded in a monotone inflection.

Uo turned her head towards her friend Saki Hanajima. She had an all most blank expression with her pale face still and her light pink lips in a thin line. Uo would have thought Hanajima didn't care if she didn't catch the flash of distress for herself in her almost black swirling eyes.

Uo looked down, not wanting to show Hanajima her face. Then she noticed Hanajima's uniform skirt was down to her knees, she was probably closer to her size as well. _Damn… I forgot Hanajima wore longer skirts than Tohru! I should have borrowed hers!_ Uo inwardly screamed and practically beat herself up for forgetting about that.

"You're right! That Yankee looks as pink as a balloon!" Uo heard Kyo Sohma (Orangey) gasp in surprise as he bent down towards her causing her to glare daggers at him and growl.

"The expression would be 'RED as a balloon,' not PINK, you idiot," Yuki Sohma (Prince) said, rolling his gray eyes, as he walked over beside Tohru and pushed Kyo over, causing a loud thump.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?" Kyo yelled as he got up and was about to hit Yuki when Uo stood up with her hands clenched making the knuckles turn white and causing Kyo's tan fist to stop in mid-punch.

"Uo-chan…?" Tohru questioned as Uo turned swiftly towards Kyo, her face fuming red.

"STOP YOUR FREAKING SHOUTING, ORANGEY! I'M NOT IN THE FREAKING MOOD!" Uo screamed at Kyo's face making him take step back in astonishment.

Then Kyo stepped towards her in a challenge, his red eyes, glowing with hot arousal, "I'M NOT YELLING, YOU STUPID YANKEE!"

"LIKE HELL YOU AREN'T!"

"Uo-chan… Kyo-kun… please…. stop…" Tohru begged her eyes watering up.

Kyo stopped, turning his carrot topped head to Tohru not wanting to make her cry. He secretly liked her, but was too proud to admit it. He blushed slightly in embarrassment.

Uo, not being herself, turned towards Tohru as well, but with distemper shining in her ocean eyes. "STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO! YOU'RE NOT MY MOTHER!" she screamed at the top of her lungs causing everyone to turn.

Tohru's eyes over flowed and she put her beautiful face into her small delicate hands as she cried silently. Yuki put his strong pale hand on her back rubbing it softly cooing that she didn't mean it and other comforting words. He, like Kyo, liked Tohru, though was too shy to admit it.

Hanajima walked forward and pulled one of Tohru's small hand away from her face patting it for comfort with her own pale hand. She stayed silent, letting the dark almost violet haired boy comfort her. She and Uo knew that the boys liked Tohru and every chance they got to help Tohru they gave it to them.

Kyo looked between Tohru's distraught shivering figure and Uo's shocked pink face. He didn't know what to do because he didn't spend that much time with other people, especially girls. He just stood there like the rest of the class, frozen and appalled.

_Why did Uo yell at me? She has never yelled at me like that before!_ Tohru cried silently into her hand, her body trembling under Yuki's small touch.

All Uo could do was just stand there in horror. She had never done that before. Yelling at Tohru with almost pure hatred had never even crossed her mind. Not since they became friends. She even had to go so far as to bring mothers into the mix. Tohru had lost her mother so that must have been really hard to listen to, especially coming from a friend's mouth who loved her mother just as much.

Uo's eyes started to fill with water and shined a bright sad blue. Her body started to tremble as she tried to hold her tears that were springing to her eyes. "I'm so sorry…" Uo quietly said as she stared down at the back of her friend's turned down head.

Tohru's head lifted up at the sound of Uo's soft frail voice. She had never heard Uo's voice sound so emotional and weak that it could break like a crystal glass if held too hard. Uo was always so strong and proud. "Uo-chan….?" She questioned in a worried and confused manner with tears still sliding down her face.

As soon as the words left Tohru's mouth a tear slid down Uo's face and she bolted out the door with her bag in hand. The only thing everyone saw was her back and her blonde hair flying frantically out the door. The classroom went into complete silence as no one moved or uttered a sound. The students were frozen in astonishment.

Uo ran down the hallways, her tears blurring her vision. She didn't know why she ran, her body just told her to run and she complied. Uo felt her energy start to drain quickly, but adrenaline kept pumping into her system making her legs run faster and faster each step.

Ahead she saw the railing of the stairs. Knowing that if she stopped to go down the steps she'd loose all of her energy, she did the first thing that came to mind, an irrational thing. Uo stuck her right hand on the railing and flipped her self over it. The adrenaline pumped faster as she fell. Her stomach flew up as she saw her possible impending doom.

Luckily Uo's body knew from her previous days as a Yankee to bend her knees and land on the balls of her feet so that her lower half could take most of the fall and not the rest of her long frame. She hit the ground with little pain and steadied herself with her arms so she wouldn't fall over. With adrenaline still in her body and having her system still tell her to run, she bounced up like a ball and dashed off down the hall.

Uo didn't stop to change her shoes as she ran out into the summer heat that quickly had dried up the puddles that were covering the ground earlier that morning. The heat from running and her fever didn't help her condition and she started to get exhausted. Her movements slowed, and she started to stumble with each step.

She heard a loud yell and looked up slowly to see a figure walking towards her. Her vision went in and out of blurring from her tears and fever. Stopping to decipher the mysterious shape, her head and what felt like her body started to spin.

Her sight started to become tunnel vision as darkness crept over her eyes. Warm hands fell comfortingly and supporting on her fragile shoulders as a face appeared before her. Uo recognized the familiar gold eyes as she felt her body go limp, the darkness took hold.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Blink once. Blink twice. Blink three times. Nope… this was real. The heat wasn't getting to him. The girl who ran into him and whom he saved from a deadly pole collision was right before him. He held a firm grip on her strong yet delicate shoulders, which he had grabbed before she plummeted towards the ground.

Hatori put the young woman down gently and moved her fair-haired bangs from her rosy face with one of his long thin fingers. His almond shaped eyes widen at the brief contact and he relinquished his hand back as if it had been bitten. Even from that light brush he felt the heat radiating from her face.

Quickly kneeling on one knee to get closer to her tall slender body, he shot his hand down to feel her forehead. His masculine hand felt clammy on her moist skin. She was hot, not warm, actually burning hot. _A very high fever, probably a cold. _Hatori diagnosed, as he looked toward her chest to see that she had labored breathing as well.

He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. All he wanted was to get his bag back and, thinking he was having good luck, saw the girl running away from the school a few minutes after her pulled up in his van. Walking with long strides towards her dashing figure he called a quick "Hey" and got her attention. She quickly stopped as if the words froze her and her bright eyes squinted to see him. He sped up his speed as he saw her start to sway. The girl didn't notice his approach and he saw her eyes were wet and unfocused. His hands, as if on their own accord, grabbed her shoulders in an attempt to steady her wavering figure. At his touch the blue eyes he saw earlier that day locked on his golden orbs. Without notice, the blue rolled back, her eye lids promptly shut, and then her whole body went limp in his strong hands. Now he had a big problem on his hands, literally.

Hatori sighed and looked over on the other side of the girl to see his bag. He smirked on impulse and thought, _Perhaps it is my lucky day._ Lifting himself off the ground from his crouch, he slowly walked around the limp young woman's body towards the bag.

Lifting up the bag, he examined the outside meticulously making sure it was his. It looked like it from the outside, but just to make sure Hatori opened the front flap and inspected the inside for all of his stuff. Akito's papers, his emergency medical supplies, pens and other junk he needed or thought he needed. Everything was intact, though a little wet, and in the exact same spot he had placed his items.

He lifted his head up to observe the girl suspiciously. This morning he could have sworn she was wearing a longer skirt that those gang girls sometimes wear, but this time she was wearing a short skirt. A _very_ short skirt giving little to the imagination and showing off her nicely shaped… _Stop, _he told himself as he scrunched his eyes together. _Damn you, Shigure for making me read those books._

Hatori shook his head and went back to his original distrustful glare. She seemed like she was part of a gang. As if needing evidentiary support, he ticked off all of his reasons for his accusation: 1. Her hair couldn't be real, she must have dyed it, and only delinquents dye their hair 2. Her long skirt she was wearing from before are that of those gang girls 3. The way she talked to him before showed she had little for no respect for those with a higher authority than her 4. She probably stole that new skirt she is wearing from another girl. Thinking his list was adequate enough, he looked through his bag for his wallet.

Digging through the papers and knickknacks, he finally found his thin black wallet. The doctor stole a quick wary glance towards the supposed thug and opened the mouth of the wallet, ignoring the little voice in his head reminding him he'd borrowed all of her money without permission. Lots of bills were stuffed in and he counted each thoroughly. It seemed like there was more in there than he remembered. That couldn't be right, so he recounted and got that same number.

_How?_ He looked at the student again, but this time in confusion rather than accusation. Hatori thought back to the last time he used it and remembered that Akito asked him to get a new robe for him giving him money to buy it. _Damn. I guess I need to get that too before I see Akito._ He focused his gaze at the girl again and sighed in irritation. _More trouble._

Hatori returned the wallet to his bag and turned ready to depart. Suddenly, a pang of guilt went from his stomach through to his entire body. Sighing, he speedily walked to his van threw the bag that started this whole mess onto the passenger side and pivoted on his foot so that he was facing the girl that laid a few meters away from the van.

Cautiously, the doctor moved closer to her with each step. His doctor side of him told him to take the girl with him to his house, she was ill after all and he could take care of her better if he were in a familiar environment. The side of him loyal to the Junishi told him to leave the girl because if he hugged her by mistake then he would be in huge trouble if by any chance someone found out. Of course he could just erase their memories, but… that was a painful thing to do for him. He'd rather not.

He could just leave the girl at the hospital, but the hospital would have so many questions which he wouldn't be able to answer nor feel like it. The same if he returned the girl to the nurse's office. Hatori thought of calling 911, but this wasn't a complete emergency, there were probably worse things happening that need to be attended to rather than some sick hooligan with a bad cold.

Thinking hard, the doctor just stood there staring at the fallen young woman, going over each situation in his head. He would leave her at her house if her bag had any information on where she lived, which he already looked for but found no evidence of the sort.

Making his decision he slowly and carefully hooked his arms under the girl's legs and back, keeping her a good distance from his body. He lifted her from the ground and her head rolled back with the movement, feet dangling. His eyebrows shot up a very little bit at how light she was. She looked much heavier.

Hatori hastened to his car and sat her in his passenger seat. Her head rolled to rest on her shoulder and her blonde hair covered her face. He exhaled in relief that he didn't hug her and was still himself. Grabbing the seat belt he pulled it over the schoolgirl's stomach and listened for the satisfying click of the belt being locked in.

Giving his passenger a once over to make sure she was secure, he shoved the door closed and walked around to the other side to get into the driver's seat. He climbed in, shut the door, put on his seat belt, and started the engine. The radio station he was listening to started to play some sort of loud jazz which he wouldn't have minded if he was driving normally, but he turned it off so he wouldn't disturb his unconscious or sleeping passenger. He did not want to listen to her yell at him, which he knew she would if she was woken up.

For some strange reason, Hatori felt a tug to look at her again. The man had his hands on the wheel and felt the whole vehicle vibrating with life through that one extension of the van. Rotating his head slowly to look at her, his brows furrowed with concern for the young woman. Through her long pale bangs he could see her face was abnormally pink and her eye lids kept flickering as if they would open, but they stayed firmly shut and wrinkled. The doctor could hear her wheezing for air and he could visibly see her chest tremble with each struggle for air.

He closed his eyes and shook his head feeling his long black bangs tickle his forehead. _How could that girl get so sick?_ He was perfectly fine, though exhausted, but that is how he usually felt. And who wouldn't with a day he'd been having? Suddenly, like a light bulb flicking to life, he remembered that it was pouring down rain when he ran into her. She could have gotten sick from that. Another thought floated into his head, it was summer which meant that it was hot, which also meant that the school would have their air-conditioning on. With her being wet, going into the cold, running to class, getting hot, and being exposed to all of the germs in school, her immune system was down and she got sick.

He shook his head again, feeling sorry for the girl, and noticed out of the corner of his eye a slight movement from his neighbor. He stopped and stared at her, she was in the same position as before, head down, hair in face, arms and legs lying like a doll. She hadn't moved from her unconscious state.

Turning his head ready to put the van into drive thinking it was just the sunlight he saw it again, but this time he figured out what the movement was. She was shivering. She was still shivering now, but every so often it looked like her whole body jerked from the shivers. Ever the doctor, Hatori moved her hair slightly and saw that her teeth was chattering, another sign of her being cold. He shot a glare at the air conditioning to see if it was on and established that it was off. _Must be the cold, _he thought gravely. _It's getting worse. _

Quick thinking on Hatori's part, knowing that he didn't have any blankets in his car, he gave his suit jacket to the girl, throwing it over her. It covered the upper half of her body, seat belt and all, down almost to her mid-thigh. The body heat from when he was wearing it would help her warm up. He sat a few seconds more to see if the jacket helped any.

Thankfully the jacket helped this strange schoolgirl. Her shivers became less noticeable and insistent. The doctor listened for the chattering as well, but heard nothing. She was fine for now.

Finally ready, Hatori shifted the car into drive and sped away from the school. As he made a turn the he saw a movement from his passenger once again. Stealing a quick glare at her, mostly from annoyance, he saw that her head had just rotated to the side due to the turn.

Sighing with relief that she was asleep and displeasure that he was even helping the girl, Hatori headed for a store, which Akito supposedly liked, to get a new robe for the young head of the house. Seeing the store to his left he turned off the road and parallel parked. Getting out of his nice white van, he locked the door, glanced at the girl still in the vehicle to make sure she seemed okay, and headed into the store.

As he got in he saw very few robes and remembered that you usually had to call and preorder what you wanted because they made the articles of clothing and then sold it to the costumer. He groaned in frustration. Akito would not like this. _Not a very good day at all._

Breathing in and out to calm himself, he stepped up to the counter hoping by some odd reason that someone preordered the robe so he wouldn't have to face the wrath that is Akito. The chances that it was preordered was pretty much zero because he didn't do it himself and no one else had really known about Akito wanting a robe, but it was worth a shot.

"Hello!" A cheerful woman, about 21, greeted behind the counter towards the back of the shop.

Hatori, although hating those people who always seem cheery like it was programmed into their system, replied in a bored deep tone, "Hello."

"How may I help you?" She asked just as cheerfully, but this time with huge sparkling brown eyes trying to get his full attention on her.

Hatori looked uninterestedly over at the girl dressed in a bright yellow flower print dress. It almost made him sick to his stomach to see her bright cheery eyes, dress, and voice on his bad day. Heck! Even her black hair seemed to shine with delight. "I'm looking for a robe, I was wondering if you possibly had one for an 'Akito'."

The clerk turned her oval shaped head to the side and scrunched her eyebrows together like a confused dog. "'Akito'? Let me check," she chirped quickly with her thin finger in the air. He saw her stick figure sashay into a backroom, undoubtedly where the preordered clothes were held.

The doctor exhaled sadly knowing that the clerk wouldn't find anything. He turned from the counter to look outside through the store's glass window towards the van, running his fingers through his thick bangs. A slight movement inside the vehicle caught his attention. He squinted his golden orbs to see through the glare in the glass when he heard a creak from behind.

Hatori swiveled to face the lady, surprised to see a robe in her hands. She stopped behind the counter and lifted up the tag tied to the hanger on the robe. "A-K-I-T-O?" The woman asked questionably.

Hatori couldn't help but give the worker a small smile of relief. The clerk took notice of his handsome smile and blushed thinking he smiled just for her. "Yes," he replied thankfully feeling a weight lift off of his shoulder.

The woman stammered the price and Hatori, having is wallet in his back pocket, pulled out the money Akito gave him to pay for the robe. Handing the receipt to the tall man in front of her, she sighed with delight as his fingers accidentally brushed hers. Hatori, hearing her joy, grabbed the robe before she could try anything, muttered a quick goodbye and walked out as fast as he could.

Pressing the button to unlock the van, he slid open the door behind the passenger side and deposited the robe on the vacant seat next to the door. Dry, loud coughing caused Hatori to quickly bolt up and slam the door. He then swiftly opened the passenger seat to see the girl coughing excessively and struggling to breath. Each cough racked her whole body. Her blue eyes were dull and unseeing as she held her chest firmly with one hand and covering her mouth with her other, trying to calm down and breath.

Hatori calmly reached over the girl and grabbed a water bottle that was his, but in this medical emergency was eager to give to the coughing patient. He put his masculine hand firmly, but gently on her throat lifting her head up. Her hand moved from her mouth as her eyes widened and Hatori quickly poured some water down her throat. The girl started to cough the water up, but Hatori didn't flinch and concentrated on the task at hand. His hand on her neck started move up and down her throat, working the water down. He did this once more and saw the girl's wide eyes lessen, the panic of not being able to breathe gone. Her body still shook, but she was breathing and there was only light coughing emitting from her now frail looking form.

All of the coughing and panicking made her dreary and her eyes shut from exhaustion. Hatori let out some air he didn't know he was holding. He figured it was relief from either that she didn't stay awake to yell at him for "kidnapping" her or for her not dying while in his care that he felt relieved.

Watching her to make sure she was breathing as well as she could with a cold he subconsciously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She would cough every once in a while, but it was light and not life threatening. He let out another puff of air. _I really need a smoke,_ Hatori thought.

Picking up his black suit jacket, he set it gently on the girl in his care. A part of the jacket fell off her shoulder and he pulled it up, setting it back on her shoulder. He took a step back ready to shut the door so they could leave when he noticed she was covered in sweat. The panic attack and not being able to breath must have made her body react by sweating.

_She'll need to change and soon. _Hatori closed the door and walked to the drivers' side when the reality of that statement hit him, making him groan with annoyance. He had made his decision earlier on what he was going to do with the girl, but under these circumstances he was regretting that decision.

He, himself, would have to change her. He was a doctor, and he shouldn't be affected by this. He'd seen Rin's body before and she is way more curvaceous than this gang girl. But he was affected by this, this was different. Rin was family while this young lady was a strange girl he ran into on the streets. A girl still in high school! She wasn't even yet a woman.

Hatori came back to reality and found that he was already in the driver's seat and putting the van into drive. It was like he was on autopilot. It was weird how he was letting this affect him. But he thought about it and it started to make a little sense. If Tohru was in this situation the doctor was almost positive that he would be reacting the same way he is now. He is use to working on family. Sure he helped Tohru when she was sick, but he'd never seen her naked.

Glancing over to his sick passenger, he let out a frustrated sigh. He'll just have to live with it. He felt no attraction towards the girl and figured he never would. This is just a doctor caring for his patient.

Slipping back to the world once again, he saw his target approaching. He hoped he wouldn't have to be stopped and interrogated. He just wanted to go in, take care of the girl, and then go meet Akito with his papers and robe. Of course, Hatori would be back to look after the girl, but he needed to meet Akito and not be late.

Routinely, Hatori flicked his turn signal on and turned into the gate of the large property. Approaching the guard station, an older man in his mid-forties was leaning casually against its wall. Hearing the vehicle drawing near the guard straightened up, but slumped upon noticing the familiar white van. The man just laid back against the wall yet again and waved the good doctor on into the Sohma estate.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4!

"Uuugghh…" moaned Uo as she woke up from a much needed nap.

She opened her eyes a smidgen, but immediately closed them tightly at the bright light emitting through an unknown source. Her head was spinning even though she hadn't moved. Uo lifted her arms, which felt like blocks of lead, up to her head. She worked her fingers in circles to try to get the spinning sensation to go away.

Her blonde hair felt damp as she brushed her fingers against her bangs. Brushing her hair away from her face, she noticed that it too was pretty moist. 'I must be sick,' she thought as she ran her digits through the whole of her hair. She let the tendrils fall through each finger like water, the sensation calming her.

Feeling the spinning start to go away she chanced opening her eyes. Expanding her eyelids slowly, she squinted her blue eyes at the white ceiling. It hurt, but she knew she'd get use to it eventually so she just kept them open.

Once the pain went away it was then that she noticed she was lying down. 'I must be in a bed,' Uo thought. Since she could hardly move without pain or her head spinning, she gradually rubbed her hands near her head feeling a soft pillow. Ok, lying on a pillow.

Then, Uo tried rolling her body just a tiny bit to feel what sort of surface her body was lying on. The slight movement caused a jolt of pain to go through her head, her brain protesting the movement. But even thought it hurt she got her answer, it was a nice soft, yet firm bed. She also felt a sheet and something heavier laying over top her body, probably a comforter.

Happy, the young woman bit by bit turned her head to the side, snuggling her face into the pillow. 'I love this pillow,' Uo blissfully sighed mentally, closing her eyes. She would have turned her whole body, but decided against it, feeling her head spin from the minor movement she had just made.

Uo breathed in the scent of the pillow. Even though the smell was unfamiliar, it smelled extremely good. The schoolgirl felt content just breathing in the pillow, she could do it all day. And that is exactly what she did, even as she fell into a light sleep.

Awhile later the girl woke up again, but this time she was unable to breath. She wheezed, trying to get more air in. Oxygen was going in, but not enough. Panic started to set in and Uo bolted up from her position, ignoring the protest of her body. Her nose was clogged and her throat felt like it had a huge ball in it preventing almost all air flow.

She spun her head around trying to find something that would help her. The world around her was rotating at a dangerous speed, but something out of the corner of her eye caused her to focus. Uo squinted at the object on a blob, which she supposed was a night stand. A large glass of water sat there inviting her to grab it and take a drink.

And grab it she did, however ungracefully. The spinning world and her body feeling off balance, almost caused her to knock over the whole glass, but at the last moment she put both hands on either side of the glass. Shaking, she put the glass to her lips and tried guzzling the water down. Water gushed out the side of her mouth as her throat protested against the liquid.

Determinedly, Uo used all her might to gulp down the water and the obstructing mucus in her throat. She did this a few more time, until she could finally breathe almost normally through her esophagus. She set the nearly empty glass down on the nightstand blob and held firmly onto the side of the bed trying to calm herself down. Uo closed her eyes tightly, until she could breathe without shaking horribly and most of her pain subsided.

Finally, Uo felt calm and she opened her eyes. Looking around she also found a tissue box on the now noticeable nightstand. She slightly smiled thankfully and took out a few to blow her nose. Her ears started to pop and the off-balance feeling she had before had gone. Uo took in some air from her nose, causing her to swallow some disgusting crap, but she was finally able to breathe through both airways.

The world had stopped spinning for the most part and she finally noticed she was not in a familiar setting at all. A rock formed in her stomach and she wanted to throw up, but she quickly relinquished the thought. If she was in the position she thought she was in then she needed to know her surroundings incase she needed to escape.

To her right was a wall which the side of the bed was up against. The wall was a very plain off-white, which she personally found quite boring, thinking it needed more color. Uo had to move her head slowly because she needed to take in everything, even though really it was so the room wouldn't go in circles. In front of the bed was what looked like a line of black counters with lots of things she couldn't make out because her eye sight was still too blurry. There looked to be a sink in the middle of the counters. Above the counters were cabinets you would find in a kitchen. After all of the four or so gray cabinets, Uo saw a door facing her. So far one escape root.

She looked next to the door and saw about two meters of the plain wall again until she saw a black leather chair. It was shaped very stylishly, like a half a circle, with the back a little high to rest your back on and some arm rests. Then on the wall adjacent to her was a line of book shelves filled with books, little knick-knacks and a plant or two.

Next to the book shelves was a door, however, she didn't believe that it led to an escape root. It could lead to a bathroom. Suddenly Uo remembered the other door and wondered if that lead to a bathroom as well. But for some reason, she really felt that the one in front of the cabinets and counters led to the outside, but she didn't know why.

She moved her eyes towards the night stand, the only thing on the wall that was behind her if she was lying down. Uo remembered the light that had hurt her eyes when she first woke up. Was someone in the room and had turned the light on? No, if there was someone they would have noticed her waking up.

Uo looked up and saw a light casting on a counter. Uo followed the light with her eyes, until it was behind her. The girl turned around slowly to find that there was a window, however it could not be used as an escape root. It was too small and pretty high.

Sighing, she put together everything and found there were two possible escape roots, but she felt one of them was a bathroom. Uo figured there was only one way to find out, so she slowly swung her legs over the side of the bed. She gasped loudly at her exposed legs, causing her to cough for a few seconds.

Uo blushed horribly, she was in a large button up shirt that didn't belong to anyone she would know. She also wasn't wearing any pants and feeling the lightness of her chest, no bra either. The young woman was just in a button up shirt and underwear, thank god she wasn't wearing a thong.

Running her fingers through her hair she sighed angrily, very embarrassed. She really hoped the person who took her wasn't a pervert or a rapist. She'd beat them to their death if they even tried. But Uo could tell she wasn't raped, usually it hurt, according to her older gang mates. Uo didn't hurt there at least and normally a rapist wouldn't change his prey into a shirt and the bed would be pretty messed up. The bed was surprisingly smooth and neat, even though the girl had moved around quite a bit.

Going back to her original plan, Uo got up and walked over to the door closest to her, next to the book case. Uo opened it, surprised that it lead to a hall way with many doors just like the one she opened. Ok… maybe she was wrong. The ex-gang member was about to just run out of the door to freedom, but something told her not to run, that for now she was safe.

She quickly shut the door and walked over to the other door. As she walked past the counters and cabinets, Uo noticed her school clothes thrown haphazardly into a pile on one of the counters next to the sink. The young woman picked them up examined them and shook her head. They were not in the condition to wear, but she would change into them if needed. First she wanted to check out the door facing the cabinets at a 90 degree angle.

She opened the door and found that this one was a bathroom. There was a clean tub, toilet, sink and a hamper with some dirty clothes hanging out of it. Uo blew at a strand of hair that had gotten in her face in annoyance at the clothes. She figured that the person who took her in was a clean person, however, do to the clothes thrown untidily she figured wrong. Even though she didn't look it, Uo liked things neat.

Something caught her eye and on a counter near the sink were new clothes in a neat pile. Uo walked cautiously over to them and surprisingly found a note on top of them. A bit confused and suspicious of the note, she opened it carefully, expecting it to explode. Instead there was just some neat handwriting on it.

Her eyes were a little bit blurry still, but she was able to make out what the note said:

"Here are some clothes. I didn't expect you to wake up, but you would be awake if you found this note. I recommend taking a warm shower. The clothes I'm sure are not to your liking, but they are better than nothing. I don't recommend exploring because you may be arrested. Stay in this room."

Uo huffed as his blunt and commanding note, but decided to take his advice for now. She tossed the note into a wastebasket and picked up the clothes to examine them. The blonde wrinkled her nose at the clothes that were clearly left for her. There was another button down shirt, but this time smaller and thinner along with sweat pants that looked way too big for her. There were no undergarments to her dismay, though it didn't surprise her. There was a robe and Uo was just thinking of wearing just that, but due to the note she figured her provider was male. A female would usually be more motherly and give her women's clothes, while this man clearly left her men's clothing and the letter was straight to the point. 'So much like a man,' Uo couldn't help but smile.

Heeding his words Uo took a nice warm shower. It really opened her up, making breathing much easier. She made sure to dry off good because the shirt was white and white plus wet plus no bra equals a not happy Uo. A not happy Uo is not a good thing. Surprisingly Uo was comfy in the oversized pants that drug on the floor and the shirt, even though button-up, was not stiff like she expected.

Her head started to spin once she went from the warm bathroom to the cool tenant room. However that cleared up once she got use to the temperature. Uo looked around the room, bored… What to do now?


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: Sorry guys this is a short chapter but the next one is really long so that is being uploaded too! Aren't you lucky that I'm so nice? Haha! Just kidding! Read and Review please!

Chapter 5 

Hatori loosened his neck tie as he sighed with relief. His meeting with Akito wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be. He really expected a conference full of yelling and demeaning phrases. However, it was the complete opposite, for the most part.

The meeting started out with a presentation of Akito's robe. Hatori was expecting a hurricane of rage, but Akito seemed satisfied with the chosen apparel. The good doctor was even graced with a nod from the head of the household. Though childish, Hatori wanted to pinch himself to see if he was dreaming.

Akito called his pet Kureno to take the robe to his personal wardrobe. As he moved gracefully over to pick up the clothing, Kureno sent Hatori a look. Akito saw this and hissed angrily at him for looking at Hatori without his permission. He quickly sent the man away with his new robe. However, the doctor caught the look that was sent to him. It wasn't in malice, but just simply stated that it was he who ordered the robe in Hatori's forgetfulness. Hatori, feeling bad, stated that Kureno just gave him a greeting look, nothing more. However, Akito just glared at the wall behind Hatori.

Soon after Akito calmed down, though he did seem slightly irked from the encounter, and they went on to their regular business. First, Hatori gave Akito his routine checkup. That child was always sick because of his low immune system, though he didn't believe it. The doctor figured many other events added to Akito always getting sick, including his inclination to get stressed. His patient seemed fine for the time being and Hatori moved on to the second order of business.

The doctor brought out the papers he needed to give and discuss with Akito. Hatori winced at their dampness and immediately apologized as he handed the documents to the head of the household explaining their current state was from the rain earlier. His explanation was received with a bored look and a raised eyebrow. Akito's mouth drew into a thin line but didn't say anything as he flipped through the papers. All Hatori could do was wait and listen to the unbearably slow and loud noise of the wet documents as it was turned from one paper to the other.

"Are you still here, Hatori?" a low and displeased voice cut through the air.

"You did not dismiss me," Hatori answered looking directly at Akito who didn't spare him a glance. "I thought you wanted to discuss the papers."

"We will talk later. Leave."

With that the good doctor got up and left. The only evidence of him ever being there were the papers in Akito's frail hands and the sound of the sliding door shutting into place. Even the footsteps leading from the room were lost in the light breeze.

Once again Hatori found himself on autopilot, almost to the room where his secret patient was kept. He'd been doing that a lot lately, but something had been different. He didn't know what, but something was coming up, something big. What that something was, however, he didn't know. Nor would he expect it when the time came.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Getting to the door, Hatori heard the shuffling of feet, completely surprising him. He didn't expect her to get up that fast. A coughing fit alerted to him that she was near the sink. The disgusting sound of retching hit his ears. Yes, even though he is a doctor the upchucking of stomach acid is sickening to him, though of course he didn't show it.

As soon as the sound of the girl hurling was over and the sink was turned on he opened the door. The girl nearly jumped out of her clothes at hearing the sound and spun around quickly. Hatori looked at her hands and smirked in amusement. Gripped firmly in her hands was a metal spoon. She held it as if grasping a dagger.

Her stance suggested that if he made the slightest movement she would lunge at him. Although, he was not scared in the least, he almost wanted to laugh. A spoon was hardly threatening, and the way she was swaying from sickness made it almost pitiful. Even if she was in good health he was confident he could beat her down with only one hit. But of course his doctor side wouldn't let him hurt a patient, so he just casually walked further into the room.

"Don't move or I'll gut you," the girl warned as she attempted a glare at him. Hatori could tell by the unfocused pupils of her eyes that she was having trouble seeing him for the moment. Her quick turn most likely caused her head to spin.

Completely ignoring her threat he walked towards the sink and inspected it. "I doubt you can 'gut me' with a spoon. And I'm not here to hurt you." It was clean, no evidence of her throw up anywhere. Very weird. "Didn't you just throw up?" Hatori asked the young woman as if checking her symptoms.

"N-No," she said as she turned back to the counter she was near to steady herself. After a while she felt better and explained. "I just had a lot of mucus in my throat and I needed to get it out. B'sides even if I did puke there would be nothing there; I didn't eat anything all day."

He frowned at her as she ran her fingers through her bangs. Hatori observed that with each stroke she made she became calmer and more focused. She also started to take in bigger breaths; he couldn't hear a lot of mucus in her lungs as she did so.

She sniffled a little bit, gave him a suspicious sideways glance, and went over to a coffee maker with boiled water in it. Opening a cabinet she took out two mugs and two tea bags. Her hands were shaky as she lifted up the glass pitcher full of hot water; her face frowned at her weakness. "Want something to drink? My treat," she joked.

At the sound of a drink, the doctor's eyebrows shot up in surprise that she even offered it and his actual wanting some. He chose to go for an unobvious approach to accepting the tea. "Making yourself at home are you? Seeing as you are in a room that is not yours, but a patient's, I think it should be the doctor who should offer the drink. I'll get us the drinks."

"Well I'm not a traditionalist, I don't play by the rules," she curtly replied with a smile as she put the teabags in the mugs while trying to balance the pitcher with her other hand. "I can get it."

Hatori quickly moved to her side and grabbed the top of the pitcher, afraid she would drop it. "I insist," he firmly demanded.

"I'm not weak ya know!" she yelled trying to yank the pitcher from his grasp, though hardly moved it from his strong grip, which was quickly winning over her weak attempts.

"I didn't say that at all. Unlike you I like traditional ways. The doctor cares for the patient. So let me take care of you and make the tea."

She loosened her grip and Hatori grabbed the handle she was holding and poured the hot water into each mug. After that he walked around the young woman to set the pitcher back into the coffee maker. The doctor took at quick glance at the girl beside him and noticed a frown still painted on her face. She wasn't happy.

He watched the girl walk over towards the bookcase and look at the knickknacks and books stacked side by side on the shelves. Returning to the task at hand, he moved back over to the mugs.

Before he could ask what she wanted she replied, "I want just three spoonfuls of sugar please."

Satisfied with her answer he turned to the mugs and saw a bottle out of the corner of his eye. He picked it up and looked at it. His eyes widened slightly and looked into a mug. Smirking with amusement, he put three spoonfuls of sugar in the brown mug and one spoonful of sugar in the blue mug. Mixing them well, he turned and gave her the brown mug.

He sat down in chair near the bookshelves as he watched her facial expressions with slight inner laughter. First she had a look that showed complete confusion especially in her blue eyes as she lifted the mug to eye level and stared at the color. Then it turned to surprise as her eyes widened and her eyebrows shot up. Next it changed to horror as she looked into the mug hoping that somehow it could reveal its contents. Finally it changed to guilt and defeat as she looked straight into the doctor's eyes. Hatori did see a little electric blue sparkle of anger glow in her eyes as she stared at him.

"How did you find out?"

"Find out what?" He asked with boredom and a little innocence laced together, hoping to have her admit to her crime.

"You know exactly what," she glared, cerulean eyes glowing with annoyance.

"I have no idea, as to what 'exactly what' is."

"I put sleeping pills into this mug, you idiot. Don't tell me you just happened to give me the brown mug by chance," the young woman stated, questioning his intelligence.

Not a man to be one upped by a juvenile girl shrugged and made a blatant comment, "No, I knew there were sleeping pills in it. You know if you want to drug someone you shouldn't leave the evidence out in the open."

After hearing his explanation she turned her head slightly to see the bottle standing awkwardly out in the open like a sore thumb. She let out a slight chuckle at her foolishness and looked into the now cooled mug. Turning her head to the side like a puppy, the girl seemed to question whether to drink the contents or not. Lifting her eyes to the observing gold eyes of the doctor, she seemed to look into his very soul, startling him slightly. She ended her thinking session with a shrug and took a sip of the liquid. Her shoulders relaxed along with her whole body as she took in the inviting warmth of the tea.

"The name's Arisa Uotani, by the way."

Startled out of his studying her movements, he straightened up and cleared his throat. "I'm Doctor Hatori Sohma."

"Oh good, a doctor," She laughed with relief. "Jeez, I thought you were some pervert going to rape me or something." This caused Hatori to blush slightly at her admitting that vulgar statement out loud, but he listened to her rant on. "If I'm sick I can't defend myself you know. I'm just so weak when I get sick because I hardly ever get sick. Unless you count my allergies, I always get them during the spring and fall, but they don't make me weak. You know I ran into a doctor this morning. He saved me from possible vegetation and that would really suck if that happened. I'd hate for me not to be able to move. You know you look like him, I can't remember his name. He had gold eyes just like you. Were you him?"

Hatori blinked and realized that she asked him a question. He was so preoccupied in following what she way saying that he missed the question. Racking his brain for the question he found it and was thinking on not telling her, maybe it would be better that way. But he eventually decided to tell her, not many people had golden eyes anyways. "Yes."

"Oh! Good, thanks for earlier by the way, Doc. I'm gonna call you Doc from now on, it suits you. You can call me whatever you want, but don't be dumb and call me stupid or I'll rip that pretty smile off your face," She threatened and sipped her tea.

Hatori just shook his head and took a few swallows of his tea. This girl was very weird. She is very pretty, but definitely had anger issues. But she's better than Akito with her anger, so she wasn't too bad. He could tolerate her until she could leave.

Hearing her voice he lifted his head and caught the end of her question. Something about a prince and an orange? He couldn't answer. "I'm sorry, could you say that again?"

"Oops! You probably don't know them by Orangey and Prince, my bad," She laughed with amusement in her eyes, making Hatori smile slightly. "I asked if you were related to Yuki and Kyo Sohma."

"Oh, yes. We are distantly related," He answered matter of factly.

"Really? That's cool. They're in my class. Both are very weird people, always fighting and calling each other rat and cat. But they are both kind," Uotani said with a smile, but her face morphed to a scowl with a superior smirk. "But Kyon-Kyon is annoying and always thinks he's so cool, when he clearly ain't."

"Yes, that sounds like Kyo," Hatori said with a small smile.

"Yeah…" the school girl replied, letting the conversation die so she could examine the bookshelf further. She mostly looked at the pictures and small trinkets, but she wanted to examine the books. Placing her tea on one of the shelves, Uo allowed her eyes to bounce from one book title to another. Her eyebrows lifted quite high in shock at seeing the names of some of the books and the language as well. "Western?" She questioned as she lifted a book to read the contents.

"What?" The doctor asked as he set down his mug and got up to look at the title of the book she grabbed. "Oh yes, they are western books. I enjoy reading and comparing their literature to ours. There is quite a difference, but still many similarities."

"Me too! I love western novels," She smiled, her eyes shining with delight.

Surprised at this new information he turned to look her straight in the eyes. He was amazed how much life was flaming in her sapphire orbs. "You… speak English?" he calmly asked.

"Yup! My mother's an American and she spoke English so she taught it to me. That is where I got my beautiful blonde hair and rockin' blue eyes."

"So that explains it. I thought they weren't real," Hatori admitted, all the while thinking sarcastically, _She's modest._

"Yeah, well this is my natural hair color but I had to dye it back that color because when I was in my gang I dyed by hair a lot of different colors. After I quit that then I wanted my natural hair color back. Everyone thinks it is fake so don't worry, it's cool," Uotani waved it off.

"So you really were in a gang?"

"You suspected that too?" She laughed as she put the book down. "Yeah, it wasn't one of my proudest moments, but it got me to where I am today and I'm happy with myself." There was a pause after she said this and Hatori took that time to stare at her in wonder. This girl was truly something else. Not many people can say something that profound, especially at her young age. Even he himself can't admit to being happy with himself.

"Besides," She continued on with a sip of her tea and set it down on the bookshelf. "Without that I wouldn't have met my idol, Kyoko, and my best friend, Tohru Honda."

"You know Honda-san?"

"YOU know Tohru?" Uotani eyed him suspiciously.

"Yes. She lives with Shigure Sohma and Yuki and Kyo. I go over there sometimes to check up on Yuki and everyone," He answered in a professional manner.

"Oh! So you're like a family doctor."

"Yes."

"I see. And you go over the perv's house?" The Yankee questioned.

Hatori couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "So I see you've noticed his character. Yes, sometimes I eat dinner over his house when Tohru invites me to do so."

A grin grew over the young woman's face as she shook her head and rolled her eyes. "That girl is so kind. She wouldn't let you out of the house if you refused to eat and if you did she'd send you off with a packed dinner."

"Yes, that sounds like her," he replied with a small, sad smile towards the ground. Thinking of Tohru reminded him of Kana. As his mind wandered he lost touch with reality.

A hand waved in front of his face causing him to back up slightly and look the blonde in her concerned eyes. "Hey. You okay?"

"Yes," the doctor said in a serious tone that said to let to subject drop. He saw her shoulders go up in a shrug as if letting it roll off her back, but he could still see the questioning concern in her gaze. A question popped into his head and he turned to ask the ex-gangster the inquiry. "When the snow melts, what does it change to?"

Looking into her bright orbs he saw them blink in confusion. Then a smirk grew into a smile and she started to laugh. Hatori blushed, thinking that she was making fun of his asking the question. She opened her eyes which had closed in her mirth and saw the serious face he was giving her. She quickly composed herself and cleared her throat to reply.

"Sorry. I wasn't laughing at you, Doc. It was just ironic that you asked that because my one teacher, who is kinda weird, gave us a pop quiz not too long ago that had that question on it. I almost put down water and then I thought, 'Psh, it couldn't be that easy.' So-"

"Why?" He immediately interrupted.

Startled from the disruption she responded, "Oh, it was one of those trick question quizzes. Like 'A rooster lays an egg on top of a triangular shaped roof, what side does it roll down?'" She asked waiting for his answer.

"Roosters don't lay eggs," He replied coolly.

"Exactly," she pointed at him and winked. "Anyways the old lady who teaches the class reminds me of Tohru, but just a little bit more spacey. So I thought about what Tohru would say and I answered, 'Spring.'" A satisfied smirk graced her face as she put her hands behind her head. "She and I were the only ones to get that one right."

Hatori smiled and inquired, "But how would you answer it now?"

"Now?" She said, taken back by the question. She let her hands and gaze fall as she contemplated how she would answer. Not a second after her hands hit her side did she look confidently into Hatori's eyes. "Spring, because no answers in life are easy."

After she answered it with such confidence and maturity he could hardly breathe. He had this weird feeling, like she could understand. She understood life so much better than those her age should. This young woman could understand life better than he does.

A slight sound caught the attention of the doctor and he quickly moved in front of his patient. Foot steps came closer as he signaled to Uotani to stand behind him and not make a sound. She gave him an irritated look as she crossed her arms over her chest, but the blonde complied and stood back to back with him. As he felt the material of her shirt against his, he couldn't help but stiffen up at the close contact. She became rigid at his discomfort, making him slightly regret his reaction to her touch.

A shadow under the door caught his attention. The door opened to reveal an elderly woman in a traditional kimono. She held herself quite high for her age, and she oozed command in authority. Her brown eyes locked with his as he waited composedly for her instructions.

"Hatori-san, Akito wants you immediately to discuss the papers," she commanded.

"I will be there within 5 minutes," He answered coolly.

"Be sure to not be late Hatori-san," She warned with a threatening undertone.

"I will not," the doctor said in all seriousness. "Good day, ma'am."

The door shut with little sound. Both in the room stayed quiet until they could no longer hear the foot steps of the woman. The silence seemed to stretch forever until Uotani broke it by turning to face his back, waiting for him to turn around. Hatori felt cold from loss of her touch. When he did not react she spoke up.

"No one knows I'm here, do they? I'm not supposed to be here, am I?" She questioned, not with loathing but with pure curiosity.

"No," the doctor replied monotone to both answers, keeping his back to her. "I must go. I will be back. Do not leave this room."

He turned slightly to see her about to protest, but when she looked into his cold eyes she let her mouth shut. Her eyes went to the ground and she nodded, accepting to listen to him. However before he turned forward he saw her lift up her head and give him a look that demanded answers. He turned and left the room, knowing that he wouldn't give her any.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: Sorry the chapter is short! But the next one is long so I should be able to upload it soon! Enjoy! Read and Review!

Chapter 7

Uo stood in the same spot until she could no longer hear his foot steps that faded down the hall. She let out a frustrated sigh as she looked about the room. The mug that had the sleeping pills in it caught her eye. This reminded her how weary she felt. All that talking with the Doc really took all of her strength away. Anyone would have guessed that the sleeping pills worked, but Uo knew they didn't. Hardly any medicine worked on her because of all the drugs she took when she was in her gang. She was just tired because of her illness.

It was weird, when she was talking to Doc she felt fine, but as soon as he left she felt drained. It must be like that feeling when you're swimming that you could do it all day, but when you take a rest to eat something you feel sleepy. That is exactly how she felt.

Looking passed the cup she scanned the novels. Usually a good book helped her to fall asleep or at least relax. Not many knew this about her but sometimes she liked to just sit and read. It helped her get her mind off of things. It was a good escape.

A book by Shigure Sohma caught her eye and she picked it up to read it. Sure, she'd seen that perverted book by him at his house the time she and Hana slept over but that didn't mean he wrote all lecherous books. Surely if the Doc owned the novel it wouldn't be that bad of a read.

Her eyes crept to a picture that was a little bit dusty and looked like there was a smiling woman. Sneaking over to the framed photo she dusted it off and saw that she was correct. She examined the picture and thought the woman was very beautiful. But for some reason she felt like she was snooping and invading into territory she wasn't allowed to go into yet. So she set it down, stifling her questions for another day.

_If he has a wife he wouldn't be reading perverted books or even if he had a girlfriend. I should be fine with reading this book. _

Making her decision she sat down in the bed and started reading. To her utter surprise the book started off immediately with a sex scene. "Gah!" she cried out and threw the book on ground as she scrambled up into a ball towards the back of the bed trying to get as far away from the novel as she could.

That fast movement made the world around her spin. She closed her eyes to calm herself and get the room off the merry-go-round. Uo ran her fingers through her hair, hoping to relieve the pain.

A noise caught the girl's attention and she opened her eyes to see a man in the door. She noticed her vision was fuzzy again and she slowly slid off the bed to pick up the book she'd thrown. Uo hated being weak so she didn't want to show it. Instead she tried conversation.

"Hey Doc. You were fast! I started to read this book by Shigure-san and I was very surprised. I didn't know that you read these kinds of books. The book made my skin crawl. I can't believe the stuff Shigure thinks of, what does he do in his spare time? He's such a -"

As she picked up the book and put it on the bed she looked up to give him a smile when her vision became somewhat clearer. The man at the door was slightly shorter than the doctor and his hair was a light brown. This man was not Hatori Sohma. The stranger had a look of complete shock, which probably mirroring hers.

Panic started to settle in, remembering that no one is suppose to know that she is here and she could be arrested. Her mouth opened and closed, like a fish gasping for air, trying to form words of explanation but none could come to her mind. She was caught.

Suddenly she her vision cleared more and she saw Kureno. Shock and slight happiness took over her panic as she brought her hand up to her heart. She felt it beat faster at the realization. But her mind kept telling her it couldn't be real.

"K…Kureno?" She whispered.

Trying to clear her vision she rubbed her eyes. Uo looked to the door again to see if it was a mirage. To her astonishment, she found nothing, but a closed door. Out of shock she collapsed on the floor.

She really thought she saw him, her first real love. Deciding to lay there for a while, she listened to her heart beat slow. Once at a normal pace she sighed into the floor, picked herself up, and laid down on the bed. _I must be really sick… sick in the head._

Feeling a lump under her body, she rolled over to reveal Shigure's lecherous book. She just rolled her eyes and threw the book, not caring if Hatori got mad or not. Uo watched the book laying sadly on the floor and awareness kicked in. That stupid book probably caused her to have romantic fantasies. She glared at the book, hoping to make it burst into flames. Her glaring contest ended as she fell into a light sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Arisa…" a young woman's monotone voice called.

The blonde looked up from her sweeping of the classroom to see her fair bangs obstructing her vision. She blew hard with irritation at the tendrils to reveal her friend in black. Hanajima was changed into her normal clothes, when the classroom wasn't even done yet. But Uo didn't mind, all her dark friend did was stand there with a dust pan so people could sweep dirt into it, not a hard job.

Uo leaded against her broom and moved some bangs behind her ear as she asked, "'Sup?"

"Would you like to take a ride in my car to hang at my parent's house? We've got snacks," Hanajima inquired, sounding like a kidnapper coaxing a child into their vehicle.

"Nah, can't. I have work today 'til late," Uo sighed, looking remorsefully at her friend who returned the look with her midnight eyes as she left.

She let out a sad sigh as she leaned her cheek against the top of the broom, staring at the pile of dust she swept together. The gray mound seemed so much more interesting than her life right now. Her life was so boring. It was always the same routine. Wake up for school, go to school, clean up after school, go to work, go home, relax a little, go to bed, repeat. Uo hated routines. She needed some adventure, something new. Nothing really new happened since she'd been dropped of at her apartment by the doctor two weeks or so ago. Her dad didn't even notice she was gone.

"Uotani-san?" called an irritated voice, waking her from her thoughts.

"Huh?" she asked as she looked up from the dirt to see a dust pan and shoes. Her gaze moved up to see the face of an impatiently waiting classmate. "Oh!" she exclaimed, immediately sweeping the dirt into the awaiting pan.

As her classmate put the dirt in a trash can he said, "We're done you can leave."

"Gotcha," she said as she got her stuff together to leave. "See ya later!" she called to the remaining class who either waved half heartedly or mumbled a tired goodbye.

It wasn't long before she was at her work in her waitress clothing. The dress code called for a button up white shirt with a collar, a knee length black skirt, black high heel shoes for the women, and a half apron to hold her notepad and pencil. She completed the look with a high ponytail and a pin for her bangs to keep most of her hair out of her eyes and the costumers' food.

It was Wednesday so business at the family restaurant was slow. She was lucky she found a job that paid so well per hour. Any money she earned was needed to pay for the apartment's rent and the essentials since her father's pay hardly covered the building's bill. This job was a like a saving grace for her.

Today, so far she'd had 3 families come in. The first were an older couple celebrating their anniversary. They gave a small tip because she couldn't help but cry at how cute they were holding hands, talking sweet words lowly to each other and always giving each other such loving looks. They even showed her pictures of their children and grandchildren, all looking so happy together. Uo, though seeming like a tough girl, was actually a softy on the inside and wanted to have a future just like them.

The other two families had children with them, all very young. At each dinner one of the children always balled their eyes out. Their high pitched screams caused a tremor to go down her spine, making her question why she even wanted children.

"Hey, Uotani-san. You've got costumers. It is a couple. They're seated in the dining area," called her boss, who already sat the pair.

"I'm coming," she replied, fixing her outfit and getting out her notepad.

Quickly grabbing an appetizer for her customers, she strolled out and into the front part of the restaurant where it had a more family atmosphere. Taking a turn, she walked into the carpeted dining area that gave off a more romantic aura, but still with a touch of hominess. Paintings lined the wall along with a bamboo waterfall, giving off a sense of both peace and happiness.

Approaching the oddly quiet table Uo put on a cheerful smile, set the appetizer neatly on the table, got out her note pad, and started the way she always did. "Good evening. I will be your waitress, for tonight. What can I get you to drink?" she asked, looking up from the paper.

"Just water please," the woman answered as she still glanced through the menu searching for a meal that would accommodate her hunger.

Uo couldn't bring the pen to the paper, she was in shock. "Mayuko-sensei?" she blurted out.

At the sound of Uo's voice her teacher sat up straight and turned to look at her waiter. Unexpectedly she looked to see the familiar face of one of her students. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her date sit up straighter as well and turn to look, but she was too focused on the waitress to see her date's reaction.

"Uotani! What a surprise?" her teacher responded with astonishment. Her voice held an undertone of displeasure. Teachers don't like their students to see them on a date.

Uo, however, didn't notice her discontent and answered with some enthusiasm, "Yeah! Good to see ya! Wow, I'd never expect to see you here, and on a date? I didn't know you were dating someone."

She turned to look at her sensei's date, but he seemed to be too interested in his menu to reveal is face. For some reason she felt that the man was deliberately covering his face so she wouldn't see him. Was he shy? She turned to look at her teacher and gave her a look that conveyed her question.

Mayuko blushed in embarrassment for not only herself but her date. Sinking lower into her seat, she cleared her throat and extended a hand in a presenting gesture. "Arisa Uotani this is Hatori Sohma."

A smile that graced her face for her greeting immediately changed into one of shock. Her eyes grew wide as she saw the menu lowered and saw the doctor who took care of her not too long ago. He looked the same, but this time he was glaring angrily at the menu as if it didn't protect him well enough.

They all stayed in the same position for a while, unable to comprehend the situation. Mayuko was mortified that one of her students was the waitress for her date, which she suggested, and that her date would have to go through this. Uo was just staring at the doctor feeling light headed, utterly surprised that she'd see him again, let alone like this. It made her feel weird, like he'd been connected to her all along and would have ended up meeting her eventually. Hatori was annoyed; he wanted to forget all about her, he didn't want anyone to know that he helped this girl let alone knew her. He also didn't want any interruptions for what he was going to do tonight.

Uo broke the silence first by speaking to the doctor. "Yes, I know him. Right, Doc?" Uo smiled awkwardly.

She just received a glare that told her she spoke too much. Without knowing it she took a step back, as if the gaze stabbed her in the chest. Immediately she looked down to her note pad as if ashamed.

"You know each other?" the teacher piped up, sounding confused and curious.

Hatori just looked at his menu blankly. He had to think of something fast. Just as he was about to give a lame answer Uo spoke up, "Yes, we'd met each other briefly at Shigure's house, when me and Hanajima had a sleepover with Tohru. Shigure introduced us."

At hearing her voice he looked up from his menu to look at the girl. Her voice usually sounded so strong and assured but this time it was different, like she was hurt. What he saw made him frown slightly; her head was down as if in disgrace and her face looked ashamed.

"Oh… well that's nice," Mayuko spoke softly with a slightly irritated tone. Oh how she loathed Shigure. That man always seemed to come into her life in one aspect or another.

Suddenly Uo straightened up; her self confidence restored, and scratched the back of her head. "Well, I'm sure this is quite awkward," she laughed forcefully. She saw her teacher start to protest but Uo interrupted her. "Don't you dare try to deny it sensei. I could tell right off the bat that this was going to be weird. I'll go in back and get another waiter." Both of them looked about to object to her, but she stopped them before they could get out a word. "Stop, it's really no problem. You two would feel more comfortable without me serving you. Have fun you two love birds!"

Smiling brightly at her sensei's blush, she turned and returned to the kitchen. Uo immediately went to her manager and told him about the situation, to which he promptly sent another young lady to serve them. Not long after another couple came in with their daughter and Uo was sent to serve them.

They were a nice family. Kind of quiet for her taste, but they went in and out quite quickly, which never bothered her. As long as she got through the day without any complaints from her costumers or staff she was happy.

"Uotani-san!" the manager called from the kitchen door as she was wiping off the table the family just finished eating at. "That is all for tonight, your shift is over."

"Thanks!" she called back. She gave the table one more swipe, threw the rag into the water it was kept in, scored two points, and went in the bathroom used by the waiters to change. The blonde came out in jeans and a t-shirt, opting out her long skirt because she brought her motorcycle to work today.

Taking a quick peek into the dining area to see what happened to her teacher and the doc, she saw the waitress who replaced her cleaning the table. She'd just missed them. Uo hoped she hadn't ruined their evening.

Ready to leave, Uo grabbed her long jacket with an old gang symbol on the sleeve and slipped into it. She checked out with her manager and was ready to depart. The young woman took hold of her pony tail and clips and took them out to let her blond hair cascade down her back. She was ready to ride!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Hatori stood in the night air, nursing a cigarette, as he went over the evening in his head. He knew it wasn't going to go as well as he had planned once he saw the young woman he'd helped a few weeks ago. The doctor had hoped to not see her for a long time if ever again.

The dinner had not gone well in the serving aspect. The girl kept mixing up their orders, playing with her hair, and stuttering to him every time she asked him for an order. The meal was quite good, not greasy nor bad tasting, like he had expected. He would recommend the restaurant to some of the Sohma families.

Before they got dessert he was finally able to tell her what he wanted to the whole night. He said that he just couldn't go out with her anymore. Hatori hated these times of situations. That is why he didn't even know why he got involved. Well, he knew why, he was attracted to Mayu. She was pretty, intelligent, witty, and playful. She was everything a guy would want, except for him. He didn't feel anything and he didn't want her to get too attached. Not only would he end up hurting her, but so would Akito. Mayu didn't deserve that.

He expected her not to take it well, but he didn't expect her to become so distant. She said she felt like he did, the attraction wasn't there like it was in the beginning, but her voice was disappointed and monotone. She must have really expected something. To his and probably her discomfort they ate the rest of the meal in silence.

Hatori had offered to take her home, but he was answered with a fake smile and a no. She said she would walk home; she only lived a block away. He watched her back and then her shadow as she went around the corner and disappeared. He felt like an ass.

"Damn it! I hate you!" yelled an angry and frustrated voice that snapped Hatori out of his thinking. "No, no! I'm kidding! I love you!" came the voice again in a desperate and over the top loving tone.

He looked ahead and expected to see a lover's spat, but was caught completely off guard. There was the delinquent girl starting or maybe strangling her motorcycle. Her loose hair flew all over as she attacked it from different sides.

"Aw Hell! Damn it! Why won't you start!" she cried in anger, on the brink of crying.

The good doctor threw his cigarette in a nearby ashtray on top of a trashcan and walked over just as she practically collapsed on top of her bike. She raked her fingers through her hair and growled. He couldn't help but give a small smile at how funny she had acted.

He crouched down next to her and asked indifferently with a small amount of amusement, "Having trouble?"

The blonde stiffened and turned her head slowly to glare at him through her hair. She had recognized his low masculine voice and heard that little amused tone. Uo stared at him and responded smartly, "What do you think, doc?"

"I think," he said with a small smile, "that you are having trouble and should get off of your motorcycle so I may look at it."

She let out an exasperated sigh and languidly got off the bike. Extending her hand in a presenting gesture and giving him a sarcastic smile, she moved out of his way. He walked around it once and stared at it for a while, knowing she was growing angrier. "So, doc, what is the diagnosis?" she asked mockingly.

"Almost got one," he replied back smoothly, letting her bite roll over his shoulder. "One question, when was the last time you put gas in it?"

The young woman's eye brows drew in close, making a wrinkle over her nose, as her eyes narrowed in anger. Her jaw clenched and she lifted her finger, as if ready to tell him off. When she suddenly stopped and stood like a statue, thinking.

Hatori would have laughed at Uo, but held it to himself. She was a delinquent after all. He noticed that she started to relax and her eyebrows and eyes grew into a confused and upset appearance. Her blue orbs met his gold ones as she answered, "I have no idea."

"Then I would say you are out of gas."

"Thanks for the obvious, Sherlock."

"You are welcome, Watson."

Uo's face cracked into a smile. "I have no idea if that even made sense."

Hatori shrugged with a hint of a smile on his face. "Me neither, but it sounded good."

Uo laughed and agreed. "Yeah, it did." She looked at the ground thoughtfully musing over his statement with a smile. Suddenly the reality of the situation hit her and her smile turned into a frown. "I need gas…."

"Yes it would seem so," answered the doctor with a nod.

Uo just raised a fair eyebrow at the man and turned towards her motorcycle. Ok, so she needed gas. She patted her pockets with her long thin hands and felt for her wallet. Yup, it was there and she remembered putting money in it this morning. But she couldn't remember where the nearest gas station was.

"Do you know where the nearest gas station is?" she turned to ask the dark haired man.

"Yes. It is just around the corner and down two blocks," Hatori said. He saw the determined look in her eye and he asked quickly before she did something stupid. "What are you planning to do?"

"I'm gonna go to the gas station and get some gas! Duh," Uo stated as if it was obvious.

"I figured that." The doctor said, "But are you going to push your motorcycle there?"

"No! I'm gonna hoof it and maybe they'll let me borrow a gas can or I can buy one. Then I'll return here and put gas in my tank," Uo answered, and then turned to walk in the direction he mentioned.

"It is late-"

"I know it's late, doc. Thanks for your concern but I need to get home. Who knows what my dad is doing or what he's got in to. I also need to clean, do some homework, and take a shower. Besides, don't you remember I was in a gang? I can handle myself," Uo interrupted his protest as she kept walking towards her destination with confidence.

"Uotani," he said stopping Uo in her tracks. She turned like a wined up toy and faced him with a bored look, waiting for him to talk. "I know you were in a gang and could defend yourself-"

"Butter me up first, that always-"

"But it would make me feel better if I drove you there," he interrupted her interruption. His eyes conveyed all seriousness and a little bit of worry. Uo's hard stare from being interrupted softened and she sighed lightly as if tired.

"Fine," she complied as she shrugged as if she didn't care but her eyes shown with relief. She didn't really want to walk there all by herself with all the possible creeps around probably waiting to kidnap her. "If you insist."

Hatori walked sophisticatedly over to his van and unlocked it, allowing her access. He slid into his seat just as Uo plopped herself into the passenger's. She looked around the van like a small girl would look around a new doll house. "This is a nice van. Of course, since you're a doctor, I'd expect a nice vehicle."

"Of course," the doctor responded back as he put the car into drive and drove towards the gas station.

The van was quiet and of course the ex-gang member hated silence so she decided to get some answers for her curiosity. "So… how did your date go?" she asked innocently.

"Not good, not horrible," the man answered, not wanting to give a lot away.

"Hmm, that means not very good."

"Why would you say that?"

"Well, usually someone would say 'not good, not bad' or 'not great, not horrible' so they would balance each other out making the date okay. A 'not good, not horrible' would lean more towards the bad than the good. That probably didn't make any since, but it did to me."

"No, I understood," Hatori answered, surprising himself that he did understand.

"See! I knew I wasn't insane." He could hear the smile in her voice. "So what happened?"

"We had a bad waitress." Hatori felt the air in the van darken as he pulled into the gas station. He chanced a glance at his passenger and saw her pale. He quickly corrected himself. "No, not you. Sorry if you thought that." Uo's face became its natural color as she breathed normally. "The other girl kept getting our orders mixed up and she was clumsy and stuttering, but I'm sure she'd a nice girl." The doctor added, feeling like he was talking badly about her.

"No, she's new and she thinks that she knows everything. And that stammering thing is because she thought you were hot. She thinks any hot guy would fall for an 'innocent' girl like her," Uo said as she rolled her eyes just thinking about her. Hatori blushed slightly but overall ignored what she just said.

They both got out of the vehicle. Uo headed towards the gas pump as Hatori went in the opposite direction. The young woman noticed this and turned as he popped the trunk of his van. "Doc, what the hell do you think you are doing? The gas is this way. Just sit in your nice van and-"

She immediately stopped as she saw him take small gas can out of the back. Blushing at how rude she must have sounded, she turned her gaze up to his golden orbs. _He's such a nice guy_, Uo thought. "Sorry, I didn't know you had a gas can," the blond apologized, trying to convey to him that she was apologizing for being so rude, which was hard.

"It is fine," he smiled sweetly, causing Uo to blush even more.

_And he's so hot_. She turned, hoping he wouldn't see her blush, which he didn't.

Uo quickly got the gas and took out her wallet when she noticed Hatori standing near the owner already paying for the gas. She frowned at this and decided to wait until they got into the van to yell at him. She could take care of herself. He really didn't need to pay.

As she put the cap back on the gas can she saw the doctor lift it up and head towards the van at a fast pace. She practically had to jog to keep up with him. Damn, he had long legs.

He opened the passenger side and put the gas can in front of the seat, allowing some room for her legs. Leaving the door open, he got in on the driver's side and turned the van on. Uo set herself in the seat and buckled her seatbelt as he put the vehicle in reverse to leave.

"You know you really shouldn't have paid. I have money you know."

"Happy Birthday," he said as if he just told her the weather and he drove on to the street.

"It isn't my birthday!"

"Happy early Birthday."

"It's not even close to my birthday!"

"Than think of it as payment for getting kicked out of serving us."

"It was my choice."

Hatori gave out an annoyed sigh. He was getting annoyed with this girl. Does she not know how to accept a good deed from someone else? The feel of her glare on the side of his head did not help.

"Stop glaring at me," he tried changing the topic.

"I'm paying you back," she said stubbornly.

"No."

"Yes."

"I won't accept it."

"You _will_ accept it."

He parked near her motorcycle and turned off the van. "Get out," he ordered softly as he got out of his side. Without looking, he knew the young woman got out because she shut the door with such force it made the whole van practically shudder. Hatori couldn't help but cringe at the noise.

He watched her as she attempted to fill the tank. The blonde's thin hands were shaking with such anger she couldn't pour the gas at a fast pace. Not wanting to wait forever for her to get done, he went over and took the tank from her hands gently. Her head whipped to glare at him but she gave no protest, knowing that she was too angry to do it properly herself.

Once he was done, he put the can in the back of his van, leaving the cap to Uo's gas tank open. She quickly screwed it on and turned to the man who just finished shutting the trunk door. "Thanks," she said with restraint so she wouldn't flip out on him.

"For helping or paying for it?" he asked, risking her lashing out at him. He was curious to her reaction.

She clenched and unclenched her jaw for a few seconds before he saw her relax. "For everything," she said truthfully as she let out a sigh of defeat. "I never thanked you for helping me when I was sick and now you help me get home. Then what do I do? I freaking get pissed at you when you're just trying to help. Sorry," she spit out, slightly embarrassed, and crossed her arms over her chest.

Hatori was a little surprised, but he nodded his head and allowed a small smile to grace his face. "You are welcome."

"Yeah, whatever," she brushed him off as she sat on her motorcycle. She turned the keys and heard the beautiful sound of her engine purring. Slipping on her motorcycle helmet, she saluted the doctor and turned the handle of the bike, driving off into the night.

Hatori couldn't help but think of the tail lights as a butterfly as he watched her drive down the street. He ran his fingers through his bangs as he took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit the end. The man couldn't tell her the reason he paid was to pay her back for him borrowing her money from when she was sick. In his impatience to get her out of the estate, he'd forgotten to pay her back.

Quite proud of himself, he flicked his unfinished cigarette into the ashtray from earlier and it lay happily next to his cigarette from before. Slipping behind the wheel of his van he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He looked over and groaned at the sight. There in the passenger seat laid some bills and a piece of paper with a smiley face sticking its tongue out.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Uo got out of the shower and was towel drying her hair when she heard a knock from the front door of her dad's apartment. "Dad, open the door!" When she got no response she yelled louder. "Hey, old man! Get the freakin' door!" Still, she got no response.

Quickly putting on a burgundy bathrobe, Uo stepped out of the bathroom and into the kitchen/living room area of the house to locate her dad. She found him on the couch sleeping with a beer bottle in his hand and the TV on. Sighing in disappointment, she went over, turned off the TV and threw away the bottle. Another knock made her aware that her visitor was still at the front door.

"Wait a second! I'm coming," Uo called to the door as she set the glass bottle gently into the thrash can.

She quickly turned and hurried to the door. Her home slippers were noisily sliding on the floor with each step she took. The young woman opened the door and was about to utter a hello when she froze in shock.

Unexpectedly, the tall frame of Dr. Hatori Sohma stood in the door way. His eyes were flaming with irritation. Even through the bangs that covered his one eye she could see the hot anger burning in his orbs. The intensity of his gaze paralyzed the blonde's lungs.

The next thing he did took Uo aback. The doctor dug in his pocket and drew out the money that she had given him, with a little extra. Then his hand flew straight out towards her as if demanding her to take the money.

When her lungs were finally able to take in air again, she slowly lifted up her hand to lay it on top of his. Then she added a small amount of force to lower the doctor's hand. Next she cupped her other hand under his, so her hands formed a warm sandwich around his cold one.

Finally she spoke softly but with her usual strength. "What is this?"

"It is money I owe you," Hatori answered straight forwardly, as he brought his hand up, back to the way it was. "Take it," he said softly.

"No."

"I can't accept this."

"Why?"

"I owe it to you."

This made Uo draw her hands back and she stared straight into his eyes. Her blue eyes were glowing like the sea with confusion and displeasure. "You keep saying that. You owe it to me?"

Surprisingly, he blushed a charming pink. It was then she released she was still in her robe and she blushed so hard she felt the heat radiate from her face. Uo quickly closed her robe as tight as it could go and looked up to his face. Even though he'd probably seen a lot more than her cleavage, it was still embarrassing to expose that much of her body to the doctor.

However, the doctor was not blushing for the same reason Uo thought he was. He _really_ had not wanted to tell her. But he couldn't feel right until he paid her back, and she was so stubborn that she won't accept the money without a good explanation. So he told her.

"I borrowed money from your wallet when you were sick and I never paid you back so take the money," he replied as if it wasn't a big deal.

Uo blinked at this and started to laugh. Her giggles made her body bend over. Hatori just stared at her in surprise, he didn't find anything funny.

"Ha! You know you could have just told me that in the first place. It would have saved us a lot of nonsense," she giggled as she took the money from his hand. "I was wondering where that money went! And I thought I used all of it in my sick stupider."

She moved aside and gestured inside the apartment. "Come on in, doc."

This made Hatori's eyes grow wide and he brought up his hands in a 'no' gesture. "No, thank you but-"

"Aw, come on don't be shy," Uo said as she walked behind the man and pushed him into the living room. "I know it isn't as nice as your house and it definitely isn't up to your standards, but I call it home," the young woman teased.

Hatori surveyed the room as Uo left to put her money away. It really wasn't much. A sofa, recliner, TV, and then the living room connected with the kitchen which was separated by a row of counter tops. The kitchen was small, enough room for the essentials, cabinets on the top and bottom, and a small table. The doctor felt kind of bad for the girl, but she seemed happy and though it was small, the apartment had a sort of homey atmosphere. But for some reason, Hatori felt like the homeliness was created only by the young blonde woman.

She appeared from a room down the little hall dressed in long stripped pajama pants and a large black t-shirt. He saw her stretch just as she was walking into the kitchen, unconsciously exposing her flat stomach. Uo gave him a smile as she opened the refrigerator.

"Do you want something to eat?"

"No, thank you," Hatori answered just as he saw a movement out of the corner of his eye, near the sofa.

"How about a drink?" she asked.

"Sure," he said without thinking as he caught a glimpse of hair over the top of the couch.

"- kind!" shouted Uo.

"What?" Hatori asked as he was brought out of his 'investigation."

"What kind of drink would you like?" she asked slowly as if she was talking to a very young child.

"Oh, no, I don't want a drink," he said as he walked over to her. "Really, thank you, but I must get back to the Sohma estates. I just wanted to deliver the money."

"Oh, my bad! Thanks for paying me back. You're a good man. Usually people wouldn't pay the other person back, but-"

A weird gurgling noise made Uo stop talking. They both stood frozen until they heard the noise again, this time more urgent. "Oh shit!" Uo cried as she got ready to run.

However, Hatori got to the trash can first and quickly ran it over to the man on the couch. As soon as he arrived with the can the man in the chair launched forward and threw up in it. Once he was done he set the trash can down near the edge of the sofa, and with the help of Uo they set the man down on his side incase he should throw up again.

"Thank you," the blonde sighed gratefully. "Sorry you had to see that. Shit, how much did my dad drink?"

"He's your father?" the doctor asked, sounding completely surprised.

"No he's my boyfriend. Of course he's my father. He's old," Uo cried as she stepped back looking horrified.

"Sorry, I didn't know," Hatori answered quickly, thinking he'd really offended her.

She just smiled and punched him lightly in the arm. "It's ok. I was just kidding. But he really is old. I wouldn't date a guy _that_ old."

"But you would date an older man?" The doctor asked with curiosity and some amusement.

"Yes," Uo blushed lightly. "But only ten years, that is my limit."

"Of course, there is always a limit."

"Of course," Uo smiled.

A comfortable silence passed between them, until Hatori broke it. "I've got to leave."

"Ok," Uo answered in her usual cheerful voice. "Take care and thanks for your help with my dad. That would have been a mess to clean up."

"Yes, you are welcome," Hatori responded. "You take care of yourself as well."

"Yup," Uo said as she followed him to the door and waved to him as he walked out and down the stairs.

Once she closed the door, she leaned against it and let out a content sigh. She even smiled when she realized she was happy he came in. Then she had another realization, that she didn't want him to go. What was wrong with her? She liked Kureno… right?

Uo shook her head, making her wet tendrils twirl. _Boy, Uo, are you fickle?_ She thought as she got up from the door and walked towards her room to go to bed, but not before stopping to put a blanket over her father. She kissed his forehead and quietly went to her room to get a good night's sleep.


End file.
